"I don't understand."
"I'll explain in a minute, but first——"
"Please!" she said with an admonishing gesture.
"Kitty, I can't help it! I can't play up to you. If you knew how it hurt to find you living in such a place——"
"We don't have to live here," she said with quick pride. "We're saving our money so we can go abroad."
"That's not true. I know how much they pay in the sort of place where you work, and how much it costs to live. I have been through the mill. It takes every cent you earn to keep up this place. And you're always thinking, what would you do if you got sick or were without a job, even for a week. That's what makes that little line between your dear eyes."
Kate laughed delicately. "Mercy, you're quite a mind-reader!"
Jack floundered on. "And me with all this rotten money! Every cent I spend shames me, thinking of you here—and your mother."
"You haven't spent any since you met Mother, have you?" she suggested maliciously.
"Don't tease me! I'm in earnest. Why will you be so silly?"